ATLANTA — June 13, 2012 — The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) announced today
that Center Testing International (CTI), China’s largest product conformity testing organization
and a publicly traded company on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, will open its first U.S. office in
Atlanta. Georgia was selected from among other competing sites for the company’s first U.S. office.
“Dallas and Atlanta both offered an exceptionally pro-business environment and excellent
access to our clients across the country; however, our business was met with an incredible welcome
in Atlanta,” said Harold Hodder, president of CTI’s U.S. operations. “Our contacts at Georgia
Economic Development made it easy for us to meet the right people and quickly get our company
located and up and running. We also confirmed that Atlanta offered our company great value for our
money as a city with one of the lowest business operating costs in the country.”
Headquartered in Shenzhen, CTI operates more than 30 branches in mainland China.
Laboratories, technical specialists and auditors are strategically located throughout China to
offer significant technical and cost advantages by serving brand names and manufacturers with local
expertise. For U. S. companies with operations in China, CTI provides advisory services to managing
product life cycle legal compliance risks from market entrance permit, occupational health and
safety permit, environmental assessment, labor law requirements, market supervision law
requirements, penalty of non-compliance product to product recall requirements. CTI also operates
branches in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK, Ireland and North America.
The focus of the new U.S. office will be customer technical support, sales and marketing, and
provision of information on product conformity testing requirements and results, as well as product
life cycle legal compliance requirements. Atlanta’s strategic location and pool of
high-skilled labor will benefit CTI’s entrance into the U.S. market. With a large Chinese
expatriate community, Atlanta also offers CTI a source of skilled bi-lingual employees.
“This announcement marks another step forward in our strategy to strengthen economic and
business ties with China,” said Jorge Fernandez, Vice President of Global Commerce for the Metro
Atlanta Chamber (MAC). “MAC is pleased to partner with the Georgia Department of Economic
Development and Georgia Tech to support this project, which grows Atlanta’s industry capabilities
and adds to our overall economic strength.”
“Georgia is pleased to welcome CTI to the growing community of Chinese companies that have
made a home in our state,” said GDEcD Commissioner Chris Cummiskey. “China is Georgia’s number two
trading partner, and a critical trade partner with the U.S. With the growing importance of product
quality and safety in both countries, we see great potential for growth in this field, so we’re
delighted to be home to China’s leading product testing, inspection, certification, and consulting
firm.”
Posted on June 21, 2012
Source: Georgia Department of Economic Development